


Transmission

by CataclysmicCandy



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 03:46:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12879513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CataclysmicCandy/pseuds/CataclysmicCandy
Summary: A minor hiccup in communication between William 'Bill' Denbrough and Larissa 'Lisa' Conway is where a blossoming relationship begins to uncover itself in their earliest years of teenage rebellion. The town of Derry holds a dark secret, one that neither of two are willing to let remain hidden.Originally published on Wattpad under SimpleNovelty,November 12, 2017





	1. An Introduction

**BEFORE YOU READ:**

➸

_I'd like to mention before you commit to_ _this_ _story that this book will be what is considered to be called a '_ _**slow burn** _ _' book. If you are unaware of this term, it essentially means_ _that_ _the focal point of the love interests' relationship will be_ _**a continual grind of slow** _ _**and** _ _**eventual build up** _ _until the later or final parts of this book._

_I do hope_ _that_ _although this may seem uninteresting at first, I personally believe that the final outcome will provide_ _**a much greater payoff** _ _than one_ _that_ _jumps headfirst into a relationship containing people_ _that_ _were seemingly 'made for one another'._

_I would also like to mention_ _that_ _**no smut** _ _consists within the_ _boundaries_ _of this book's pages. You can simply expect_ _**a perspective on what a couple of young teens believe to be love** _ _._

_Thank you for your time and I hope that you enjoy!_


	2. Chapter One

The familiar screech of the school bell pulled Lisa out of her daze as her classmates frantically packed their books before rushing out of the classroom. She checked the clock hung above the chalkboard while packing away her stationery set, realising that it was already the end of the day. Summer was finally here.

She adjusted her thickly rimmed glasses that had fallen down her nose with a single hand, as the other hand stuffed her notebook into her backpack. She grabbed it, slinging it over her shoulders and through her arms in one swift movement before following the remaining students out into the bustling hallway.

Lisa immediately headed to her locker, catching the sight of Richie next to it. He grabbed all of his belongings from his own locker before carelessly shoving them into his bag, eager to leave the school grounds.

The first day she had arrived here she had met Richie, standing by her locker. Seeing as his locker was located directly next to hers, she didn't have much of a choice of talking to him when he immediately started babbling about how glad he was that a new girl had moved to town. However, what he hadn't mentioned was how blissful he was that she wasn't aware of him and his friends' social statuses.

Lisa, however, was unfazed when she had eventually learnt that the group she had been introduced to was of considerably lower social status than she had been accustomed to in her old town. She thought of herself as bleak; bland and boring with a hint of dullness. Her hair and eyes were almost the exact shade of brown as one other, an auburn tone that made itself known in direct sun or light. Faded freckles dotted across her nose and cheeks in the spaces below the dark circles underneath her eyes. Further proving her self-doubt; in her previous town, she was nothing but an average girl in an average house with average parents. In the eyes of her school peers, she was nothing. A ghost you could physically bump into. In her own eyes, a low social status was far more interesting to deal with on a regular basis than the one she had previously held.

"Hey Rich," She called, her voice coming out with a slight lisp to the ' _ch_ ' sound of the dark, curly haired boy's name. The metal rods attached to her teeth got in the way of her tongue as she spoke- the downside of braces. He turned his head towards her, offering a wide grin as he finished packing away his belongings.

"I see you're all set for Summer." She said with the lisp Richie had grown used to, opening up her own locker and beginning to shove her old, tattered books into her bag.

"Definitely. I'm just glad we can be free from this shit-hole for a few months." He responded as he watched her pack away the last of her possessions.

"Ain't that the truth," She agreed, giving him a sideways glance before zipping up her backpack and slinging it over her shoulders, the added weight taking her by surprise.

"All aboard the train to the land of no-school! Next stop, Summer!" Richie cheered in an entertaining voice Lisa could relate to that of an announcer she had heard many times on the television in her home. Lisa moved the strap on her right shoulder to suit the added weight and shut her now empty locker. She noticed the glances of the passing students, all surprised or giving judgemental glares at Richie's outburst of joy at the mention of Summer.

Just as she was about to comment, Bill and Eddie rounded the corner. Lisa's mind fuzzed as her eyes were laid on the sight of Bill. She wasn't entirely sure as to why her palms began to sweat as she and Richie began walking beside them, listening in on their conversation.

"-and there's this church full of Jews, right? And- and Stan has to take like this super Jew-ey test." Eddie rambled to Bill before noticing the pair walking beside them.

"What's going on?" Lisa asked from her spot between Bill and Richie, joining in on the conversation as the group of four continued their walk through the bustling hallway.

"Stan has some Jew thing happening this Summer." Eddie explained quickly, struggling slightly to keep up with the group with how short he was in comparison.

"But, how's it work?" Bill questioned, referring to Eddie's previous statement.

"They slice the tip of his dick off." Eddie answered, cringing at the mere thought of it.

"But then Stan will have nothing left!" Richie exclaimed as Bill and Lisa began to laugh.

"Wait up, guys!" Stan called from behind them, rushing through the crowded hallway before grabbing a hold of Eddie and Bill's shoulders, allowing the group to slow down to match his pace. The five of them trudged down the hallway, turning the corner to continue their march toward the front doors of the school.

' _The Losers_ ' as they were called throughout the school. Eventually they had somewhat embraced the name, with Richie deciding that they should make it a club- and what better name than the very same they had each been labelled since day one? Only then,  _The Losers Club_  had only consisted of Stan, Richie, Eddie and Bill; it wasn't difficult to understand why they were overjoyed to have a new member- especially one that was a girl.

"Hey Stan, what happens at the Bar Mitzvah anyways? It says they slice the tip of your di-di-dih-dick off." Bill asked, stuttering as he normally did every day. His stutter was something he had gained from a car accident when he was considerably much younger, gaining him the nickname of 'Stuttering Bill'. However, the stutter had worsened when he lost his younger brother in the flooding just eight months prior. The doctors had stated it wasn't a result of physical causes, but instead, psychological.

"Yeah and I think the rabbi's gonna pull down your pants, turn to the crowd and say 'WHERE'S THE BEEF?'" He flung his arms around as he spoke, earning giggles from everyone in the group aside from Stan, who huffed before speaking in defence.

"At the Bar Mitzvah, I read from the Torah and then I make a speech and suddenly, I become a man." Stan explained, wanting nothing more than to drop the subject entirely. He was more nervous about it than he let on, having not memorised a single word or how to even pronounce the ancient tongue.

"There's more funner ways to become a man." Richie commented with a sly grin and a nonchalant shrug.

"'More fun ways, you mean." Stan corrected, sighing quietly at Richie's incorrect speech.

"Oh shit," Richie mumbled as the group caught the eye of Patrick Hockstetter, a member of Henry Bower's gang. The gang consisted of: Reginald 'Belch' Huggins, a sturdy teen that wasn't considered the brightest of the bunch. Victor 'Vic' Criss, a thinner figure with blonde hair who was very consistent in the way he was able to verbally and mentally abuse each individual he picked on. Patrick Hockstetter, a tall teen with black locks that hovered just above his shoulders. He was considered by many to be a screw loose in the head, and with the rumour flying around town stating that he had killed his own sibling at the mere age of five, it was hard not to see why.

Finally, Henry Bowers. His physical appearance was a mixture of the others in his 'gang', with a medium build and a height that was considerably taller than most, yet still shorter than Patrick. His hair was a dirty blonde colour that had been unevenly styled into a mullet. Despite this, he was a threatening figure that wasn't to be messed with- something that the Losers Club was very well aware of.

The 'Bower's Gang', as they had been unanimously labelled, was notorious for being the town bullies. Patrick had flashed a toothy grin at them as they passed, something that didn't sit well with the group. It didn't help that not only the others, but Henry himself had also begun to glare at the thirteen year-olds from their spots against the wall.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Richie wasted no time to shoot a snide remark toward the older bullies.

"Think they'll sign my yearbook?" Richie adjusted his glasses before continuing, "Dear Richie, sorry for taking a hot, steamy dump in your backpack last month. Have a great Summer!"

Eddie shuddered at the disgusting memory of it, while Lisa and Bill offered a sympathetic smile at the dark haired boy. A loud thud sounded as Stan's shoulder collided with that of the meanest girl in school, Greta Bowie. Her brute force had shoved him out of the way as he sent a cautious look over his shoulder, the others following suit. They had already had enough of getting trash-talked by the older girl.

"Bitch." Lisa commented, covering it with a blatantly fake cough as Greta stormed into the girls' bathroom, annoyance plastered across her face. Stan grabbed his shoulder in feeble pain, nodding in agreement silently as they headed out of the school's front doors.

It wasn't long before the group had returned to their bickering ways, prodding fun at one another in good humour as they decided on what activities they had planned for the upcoming Summer months.

"Hey guys, what do you wanna do tomorrow?" Eddie asked the group as he adjusted the straps on his backpack.

"Gonna start my training." Richie answered, adjusting the glasses on his face.

"Er- what training?" Eddie asked, taken back by the thought of Richie taking part in anything physical related.

"Street Fighter." Richie responded nonchalantly.

"Oh, same!" Lisa said, grinning at Richie, her braces showing as she mirrored him in pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Is that how you two wanna spend your Summer? Stuck inside of an arcade?" Eddie asked, outwardly smiling at how pathetic the idea seemed.

"Better than spending it inside of your mother-  _ohh!_ " Richie raised his arm toward Stan in an attempt to gain a high five as a reward for his witty response. However, he was met with Stan dismissively lowering his arm and offering an actual response to Eddie's earlier question.

"What if we go to the quarry?" He asked the group, earning a shrug from Eddie.

"Guys we have the Buh-Barrens." Bill stated. Lisa nodded to Bill in response as Richie looked down at his feet. For once he didn't have anything to say.

"Right." Stan said, his lips tugging into a frown. Eddie looked over at the police car that stood in front of the school grounds. Two policemen stood in front with a distressed-looking woman who appeared to be in her mid thirties.

"Betty Ripsom's mom." Eddie mused, causing the rest to follow his gaze. A blanket of unease covered the group as they remembered that Betty had been missing for weeks already, as announced in a school assembly when the first news of her disappearance had traveled throughout the school.

"Is she really expecting to see her come out of the school?" Stan muttered rhetorically with creased brows.

"I don't know." Eddie replied despite the question being rhetorical, "As if Betty Ripsom's been hiding in Home Ec' for the last few weeks."

"Do you think they'll actually find her?" Stan asked, his gaze still on the missing girl's mother.

"Sure, in a ditch all decomposed, covered in worms and maggots- smelling like Eddie's mom's underwear." Richie teased, gesturing at Eddie who began to cringe.

"Shut up! That's frickin' disgusting..."

"That's gross, Richie." Lisa commented, her mouth turned to a disgusted frown.

"She's not dead, she's m-muh-missing." Bill said with a steel gaze.

"Sorry Bill." Richie apologised, realising his tongue had gotten the better of him yet again. "She's missing."

The group fell silent as Bill began to walk away, Lisa closely on his tail. The rest followed suit, Stan slightly lagging behind after having picked up a stray piece of rubbish and tossing it into the nearby trash can as Richie began to speak yet again.

"You know, the Barrens aren't that bad." Richie's words dripped with sarcasm, "Who doesn't love splashing around in shitty water?"

Richie hadn't even taken five steps before a heavy weight pulled on his backpack. His eyes widened behind his thick frames before he was sent straight into Stan, sending the pair tumbling across the grass.

Bill, Eddie and Lisa turned around to find Patrick Hockstetter kneeling over Stan and picking up the yamaka that had fallen from atop his curly-haired head during the collision. 

"Nice frisbee, flamer." Patrick tantalised as Stan attempted to grab it from his hand.

"Give it back!" Stan pleaded before Patrick effortlessly tossed it away. A bus passed as he did so, sending the cap straight through one of the many open windows as it drove away.

"Fucking losers!" Patrick hollered as he reveled in the emotional pain he had just inflicted on the Jewish boy.

The rest of the Losers had stood stunned in fear as the event occurred, allowing for an unsuspecting Eddie to have Belch Huggins quite literally belch in his ear. Eddie gagged before being forcefully pushed away, his body nearly colliding into Bill's as he steadied himself again.

Feeling a surge of false courage, Lisa stepped in front of Bill as Henry approached the pair with a darkened face. However her 'courage' quickly faded when she was met with his taller, wider figure towering above her. She gulped, feeling it slide slowly down her throat as Henry licked his upper lip.

"Get out of my way, or I'll be the train that breaks your tracks, brace face." Henry stared down at her tiny frame; his glare alone made her hands quiver from the sheer intimidation. She found herself frozen in her spot, unable to move or even breathe as she questioned herself why she had even bothered to get in his way in the first place.

Henry grew impatient, lowering his face to match her height before a smirk that made her sick to her stomach spread across his lips. She felt his warm breath fan across her face, causing a thin layer of steam to develop on the outside of her glasses.

"Or do you want my train  _in_  your tracks?"

Lisa held back the urge to vomit as her bottom lip quivered. It wasn't until Bill had grasped her forearm that her nerves began to settle enough for her to intake oxygen normally.

"You ssssh-uck, Bowers!" Bill struggled to blurt out his remark, but the feelings of hatred were conveyed nonetheless. A quiet 'S _hut up, Bill!_ ' was heard from Eddie, but he shut his own mouth quickly, not wanting to be the next target of Henry's wrath.

Henry's eyes darted to Bill's figure standing behind Lisa. He stood tall once again before roughly grabbing Lisa's shoulder and shoving her away. She stumbled over her feet and landed on the ground beside Richie who was now standing, however he was still trying to wipe the dirt patches off of his clothes.

"You s-s-s-s-say something? B-b-b-b-billy?" Henry mocked. Bill's eyes were lit with fury as he bore daggers into Henry over harassing his friends. Eddie's head turned to the floor, averting any eye contact with the now fuming Henry Bowers.

"You got a free ride this year 'cause of your little brother." Henry said, taking a step towards him, "Ride's over, Denbrough."

Bill stiffened as Henry came into close proximity. Just as Bill was expecting a fist to collide with the bridge of his nose, Henry's pupils focused elsewhere. His dad. One of the two policemen that were standing by the police car and Betty Ripsom's mom.

Lisa had stood up with the help of Richie and Stan before rushing back to Bill's side as she saw the confrontation between the two escalating. However, her reaction was identical to Bill's. Confusion.

"This Summer's gonna be a hurt-train; for you and your faggot friends." Henry muttered, bringing a hand up to his mouth and licking his palm before forcibly dragging it across Bill's cheek. Eddie visibly gagged at this while Lisa brought her sleeve to his cheek, wiping off the slime Henry had just placed with a nervous frown across her lips.

Henry and the two members of his gang walked away towards Victor, satisfied with their threats they were guaranteed to carry out throughout the entirety of Summer break.

As they got into Vic's car and drove away, Richie couldn't spare the group a moment of silence, muttering, "Wish he'd go missing."

"He's probably the one doing it." Eddie replied, to which the group silently agreed with shared glances.

 


	3. Chapter Two

Lisa's parents were home, much to her surprise. She had almost expected them to suddenly rush out as soon as she had arrived at her home in order to " _work an extra shift_ " until late. However they had remained at home, meaning that Lisa wouldn't have to heat up yet another can of spaghetti-o's for supper- alone, with only the television as company.

That wasn't to say that her mother's cooking was the best, either. Meatloaf was usually the go-to recipe if her mother was feeling particularly exhausted- that is, if she was actually at home for once.

Her parents both worked despite having a decently large amount of savings in their joint account. Her father worked in the local bank as an accountant, while her mother was the manager of the town's florist store. It wasn't as though they needed to work overtime, they simply did it without reason. Lisa had asked her father about it one time, and all he had replied with was a quiet mutter of something to do with retirement. Or, at least that was what she could make out from the brief conversation.

"Honey," Her mother had started, her sweet voice was slightly sickening to Lisa's ears after having not heard it after such a long time. It was similar to the feeling of not eating any sort of sugar in a week, and then eating an entire bag of the stuff in the span of twenty minutes.

"Your aunt called, she said that she'd like the brooch you borrowed for your class presentation back. She phoned a few hours ago asking about it." Her mother continued between sips of red wine.

"I'll get it tomorrow then." Lisa muttered, pushing away the remains of the chunk of meatloaf remaining on her plate with a fork.

She stood from the table, taking the porcelain plate with her before walking to the kitchen and dumping the meatloaf into the garbage can. She ignored the confused stare her father was giving her from behind his spectacles as she placed the plate into the sink and walked into the hallway.

"Good night!" She called as she walked into her room, shutting the door behind her. She could hear the hushed whispers her parents were exchanging through the door, but decided to not eavesdrop and simply go to bed.

Lisa picked up one of the two books that had been laid on her desk, making a note to return the other book to the library tomorrow as it was largely overdue. Lisa tossed the held book onto her bed and stripped down to her undergarments. She stuck her hand into the mess that was her dresser drawers, searching around for a moment before she had found what she was looking for. She pulled out a pair of pyjama pants with a red striped pattern before repeating the process. However this time, Lisa had fished out a plain black t-shirt.

Ten seconds later and she was dressed for bed, diving into her sheets and grasping the book between her hands. Her head was propped up by two pillows stacked on one another as she flipped through the thin pages of the thick book.

The book was a history book on the events of World War One, it was simply entitled ' _When Many_ _Met_ _Their Demise_ ' by an author Lisa had never seen or heard of before;  _Karen Leane_.

She stopped her frantic flipping when her eye caught the chapter number she had been searching for:  _27_. It was a large book, but the chapters were short in her opinion.

Lisa had always been intrigued by historical events. The fact that they were past experiences of people who had lived in the very same world as she currently inhabited was awe-inspiring to her. She wished to learn from these events and understand what had lead people to witness or take part in such tragedies or moments of scientific breakthrough.

After what had felt like an hour of reading, Lisa glanced at her clock to check the time, her eyes drooping in the slightest as she did so.

_Eight_   _minutes_ _past eleven_.

She stretched her legs out across the mattress whilst still lying down before she closed the book and marked the page number. Lisa put the book on her nightstand before taking off her glasses, folding them into their compact state and placing them on top of the book. She turned off the light before finding a comfortable position and gradually fell asleep.

➵

Three consecutive thuds on Lisa's window were all it took for her to jolt awake, muttering profanities several seconds after the banging had persisted.

"Lisa!" A muffled voice she recognised to be Richie's called, "Lisa open the goddamn window already!"

Lisa rubbed her eyes before groggily reaching her arm across to her nightstand to find her glasses.

"Richie shut up! What if her parents are home?" Eddie said, his cautious voice slightly hushed as he spoke.

Lisa sat up a bit faster than she expected, sending her head into a state of dizziness before she grabbed her glasses off the top of the book. She slid her glasses onto her face before blinking several times to allow her eyes to adjust to the sudden change of focus.

"Her puh-parents aren't home. They never are." Bill explained, causing Richie to bang his fist against the glass pane once again.

"You're gonna break it if you hit it any harder!" Stan exclaimed, grabbing Richie's closed fist as it headed towards the window again.

"I'll hit it harder unless Lisa opens this damn thing!" Richie hissed, using his other hand to hit it once more. The curtains drew open, revealing an annoyed Lisa. She sighed before sliding the window upwards, allowing fresh air to fill the previously stuffy room.

"Mornin', sunshine. You look like you got hit by a truck, and then reversed over again after the driver thought you were roadkill." Richie greeted with a Southern accent, his usual shit-eating grin plastered across his face.

"Thanks, trashmouth." Lisa muttered.

"Sh-she doesn't look that b-bad, Richie. Don't be r-ruh-rude." Bill commented.

"Yeah, don't make her mad like when we put glue in her shampoo. She wouldn't talk to us for a week!" Eddie mentioned, frowning at Richie.

"I'm right here." Lisa snapped, "What did you guys want at this hour anyway?"

"It's ten-thirty?" Stan inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"It is?" Lisa questioned, receiving a nod from Eddie after he had checked his watch. "Shit! I have to go drop something off at the library for my aunt."

"But we were g-going to the Buh-Barrens. You said you were cuh-coming..." Bill said, dismayed that there was a probability of a member of the club not going.

"Look, I'm sorry. Mom told me last night and I forgot to call you." Lisa explained, already shifting through her dresser to look for suitable clothes for the Summer heat.

"We can drop you by the Library, it's on the way." Stan offered as she pulled out a pair of denim shorts that ended just above her knees and a yellow blouse with sparce lace patterns on the edges of the short sleeves.

"Sure, let me get dressed and I'll get my bike." Lisa affirmed, drawing her curtains shut once again before getting dressed.

The rest of the losers shuffled back to her front lawn, shutting the gate they had used to reach her backyard. Several minutes of waiting passed and Lisa had rushed out of her front door, the crumbs of a strawberry pop tart littering the corner of her mouth.

"Let's go, you guys." She said, mainly to Richie and Eddie, who were in a deep debate over if the Hulk could beat Batman in an enclosed space.

She got on her bike, placing the brooch and overdue book in the wicker basket attached to the handles as the others got on their own bikes before they began to pedal in the direction of Derry's library.

  ➵  

"Bye, Lisa!"

"See you luh-later!"

"Bye guys."

Lisa watched as her friends pedalled away, picking up speed as they rolled down a dip in the road.

"Hi-ho Silver, away!" Bill yelled, the wind whipping past his face as the rest of the losers struggled to keep up with him.

"Your old-lady bike's too fast for us!" Richie called, pedalling faster in an attempt to match his pace.

Lisa watched after them until their figures became mere tiny dots in the distance. She sighed and dismounted her bike, book and brooch in her hands. She propped the bike up with the kickstand before walking up the library steps and entering the large building.

"Hello, dearie!" Lisa's aunt, Barbara Starrett, greeted from her spot behind the counter.

"Morning, Aunt." Lisa held out the book and brooch, having to stand on her toes to reach up to place them on the countertop due to her lack of height. "I have your brooch. Oh- and I have to return this, too."

"Oh, thank you Lisa. I'll return this right away." Barbara smiled warmly at her niece before putting on her spectacles and peering into the monitor in front of her.

"Well, it says here that this book is overdue. You know I can't pull anymore strings for you, sweetie."

"I know, sorry Aunt Barb. I completely forgot about it..." Lisa replied, filling her face with faux remorse.

"It's alright dear, try not to do it again though. Unfortunately I'm going to have to ask for six dollars from you as it's the policy, sweetie."

Lisa shoved her hand into her pocket, pulling out a five dollar bill and several coins.

"Will this be enough?" She asked as she placed them onto the counter. Barbara inspected them with a lingering glance before smiling and nodding at the young girl.

"Thank you, dear." She said. Lisa turned on her heel, ready to leave the place before her aunt called to her again.

"Lisa, would you mind helping me with a small task?" Lisa swallowed back a sigh before turning around once more, "I'm busy figuring out this computer system so would you be so kind as to help me take these down to the archive room?" Barbara gestured to a stack of files with stickers labelling each one.

"Of course, Aunt." Lisa struggled, but succeeded, in keeping a tone of annoyance out of her voice as she forced a smile on her lips. She wanted nothing more than to be with her friends in the Summer sun rather than in an old musty library helping her aunt with menial chores.

"They're labelled so I do hope you can find where they belong easily." Barbara explained as she slowly typed into the computer. Lisa picked up the stack, her thin arms slightly shaking under the weight before quickly walking over to the area she knew led to the archive room. Having been here multiple times before after asking her aunt to show her some old files for her history projects, she found it easy to navigate.

She reached a staircase that led downwards and cautiously took a step down, careful to not let the stack she held topple over. She took another step, a bit more confident this time. Several more steps and she was nearing the bottom. One more and-  **THUD**!

Lisa had collided into something- well, more as though something had collided into  _her_ \- sending both herself and the stack of papers she had previously held sprawling out across the hard, wooden floor.

"Shit, I'm so sorry!" A voice belonging to a rather chubby boy muttered, clearly out of breath. Lisa groaned and sat up, rubbing the arm she had landed on as she looked at the boy in bewilderment.

"It's uh, it's fine." Lisa consoled him as he cautiously looked around behind him.

"Do you um, need any help? I... uh, feel bad for knocking you over..." The boy said sheepishly, handing her one of the many files that had been scattered across the floor.

"I guess so, my aunt wanted me to sort these out and put them away down here." Lisa explained, cradling the papers in her arms as she began to collect them off the floor.

"Oh. Does your aunt work here?" The boy asked, helping in carrying the files.

"Yeah, she's Mrs Starrett." Lisa answered, pausing as she peered into the boy's face. "Hey, are you... Ben Hanscom?"

The boy was taken aback, never had someone from his school call him by his full name, in fact, it was rare for someone his age to call him by his first name at all. He was so unnoticed by his classmates that he usually was known as 'The New Kid' despite being anything but 'new'.

"That's me," Ben grinned sheepishly.

"You're in my history class, right?" Lisa asked.

"Yeah, we have Mr Adams." Ben affirmed.

"Yeah, and he's a dick." Lisa grumbled, thinking back to the time he had given her a B minus for her last essay that she had worked so hard on.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Ben agreed with a smile as Lisa stood from her spot and walked over to a nearby cabinet with the same label as a majority of the files.

"I think they go over here." Lisa gestured to the cabinet as Ben stood with his share of the files.

"So, what exactly were you doing down here?" Lisa asked as she opened the cabinet and begun to place the files in their designated positions.

"Uh... I was um, looking for some old history files on Derry." Ben lied. Lisa could tell something was up, seeing as he was previously out of breath when the pair had collided, but decided to not question him on it.

"You study Derry's history?" Lisa asked, wanting to keep the conversation going as to not let it fall silent and become awkward.

"Yeah, it's actually kinda interesting." Ben shrugged, placing another file under its listed spot.

"Really? I thought this town was pretty boring."

"It's got some pretty dark secrets, honestly."

"Secrets?" Lisa's interest was immediately peaked, she had always loved all kinds of secrets and hidden mysteries. It was mostly why she was saddened at the fact she couldn't be helping Bill find his missing younger brother in the Barrens.

"There's been a string of horrific events that have happened in the past. There was an explosion at the ironworks in 1908. It killed over a hundred people, mostly kids who were... just hunting for some Easter eggs. Some kid had his head found up in a tree a week later..." Ben explained, his face growing paler as he continued.

"And not only that, but in 1935, a gang was gunned down by the people of Derry for terrorising their streets. The leader, George Bradley, had his head blown off by a shotgun.."

"Woah, I had no idea this happened. In Derry of all places..." Lisa spoke, eyes wide. Lisa had read all about some horrifying and traumatic events of the wars, but she didn't expect such a small and distant town to be home to such brutal tragedies.

"There was some pretty nasty stuff in the history books. I'm borrowing a few for now." Ben shuddered, his mind trailing back to what he had seen just before running into Lisa.

Lisa thought for a moment as she gnawed on the inside of her bottom lip- a habit she picked up to keep her mind off of the dull pain from her braces.

"Mind if I borrow those books after you?"

 


	4. Chapter Three

Just before Lisa and Ben had left the library, Lisa's aunt had stopped them. In her hands she held out a small gift wrapped in a lavender box, tied with a velvet green ribbon.

"It was your birthday last week, so I had to make up for missing it." Barbara passed the box to Lisa, an enthusiastic glint in her eye as she did so.

"Aunt Barb... You didn't have to-" Lisa insisted, but was cut off before she could get any further.

"Nonsense sweetie! I know you've had trouble with your parents working so often, it's the least I could do." Barbara smiled warmly at the pair as Lisa unwrapped the box and opened the lid. Both of the children's eyes lit up as the gift was revealed. It was a small, red watch, covered with scattered white polka-dots. An image of a rose was painted on the face of the clock behind the glass.

"Thank you, Auntie. I love it." A genuine smile lifted Lisa's cheeks as she strapped the red watch to her thin wrist.

"It's really neat." Ben complimented, his eyes glued to the image of the rose.

"Now you two go have some fun. It is Summer after all." Barbara waved as the pair walked out of the library doors before the heat of Summer humidity hit them like a wall. Ben immediately began to miss the air conditioning as he felt sweat begin to form on his brow.

"I can show you the rest of my research if you want." Ben offered, eager to make a friend to possibly hang out with during the Summer months, rather than his usual routine of being alone in the library.

"That'd be cool, but my friends are waiting for me." Lisa shrugged, thinking over the prospect before an idea popped into her head, "Actually... do you wanna come meet them? We can take a look at your research afterwards."

"I mean, uh- I guess so, yeah." Ben fumbled through his words, surprised that anyone would offer to introduce him to a group of people. A nagging thought in the back of his head told him that she was only here to ridicule him- that it wasn't real.

He pushed the thought away and followed her until she came to an abrupt halt.

"Wait, where's my bike?" Lisa questioned, her eyebrows furrowing together.

"I swear I left it here? It was right next to the-"

"What're you and Tits here lookin' for, huh?" An all-too familiar voice filled their ears. Henry Bowers.

"Shit. Run!" Ben screeched, grabbing the frozen Lisa by her arm and running in the opposite direction.

However they were soon met face to face with Belch, Vic and Patrick to stop them in their tracks.

Belch and Patrick immediately went to restrain Ben as Lisa attempted to duck out of Vic's reach. Despite her small figure, her speed was nothing in comparison to his, allowing for him to grab her with ease.

"Gotcha!" Vic exclaimed as he restrained her, forcing her arms behind her back and pulling her mercilessly towards him.

The pair were dragged to the end of a nearby bridge as they kicked and screamed, one that Lisa knew as the 'Kissing Bridge'. Couples would often carve their names into the side of the wooden railings after having made out- therefore giving it the appropriate name.

After yet another feeble attempt at clawing her way out of Vic's firm hold, Lisa felt herself being violently shoved into the railing by Henry and Vic as Patrick and Belch did the same with Ben. Neither of the two were fit for any kind of excess physical exertion- in fact, Lisa had forged excuse notes for all of her PE classes just so she could hang out with Eddie on the bleachers instead, while watching her other friends from afar.

Lisa could only watch as they tormented Ben, lifting his shirt up and slapping his belly as they cackled and threw derogatory taunts.

"Look at all this blubber!"

Patrick's maniacal grin grew wider as his gaze shifted between the restrained pair. Lisa shuddered, somewhat glad she couldn't tell what his inner thoughts currently were.

"Get off of me!  _GET OFF OF ME!_ " Ben screamed as Henry neared him.

The sound of an engine filled their ears, lighting a beacon of hope for Ben and Lisa as they spotted a dark, navy car beginning to pass them.

"HELP! HELP US!" Lisa screamed, begging for some kind,  _any_  kind of authoritative interference.

But the car simply passed the by, the couple sitting in the front seats giving them weary stares as they passed. The engine roared with life as the driver stepped on the ignition, hurrying across the bridge and away from the Bowers' Gang.

"No.. Please..." Lisa felt tears welling up in her eyes as Henry and the rest of the bullies bubbled with laughter yet again.

Lisa gave one last glance at the car before it disappeared out of view, catching the sight of something red and round in the rear window. However it disappeared from view before she had the chance to recognise it as what it truly was. A red balloon.

She heard a loud crack, followed by another as Henry's fist continued to collide into Ben's rounded face.

"Stop! Henry, please!" Lisa begged as she struggled in Vic's hold, desperate to help her new friend.

"Shut up, bitch!" Henry bellowed as blood began to fall from Ben's nose as he stared up at him in a fearful daze, the world spinning around him.

Henry stepped towards Lisa as her eyes widened before he swung at her, his fist connecting to the side of her face. The impact forced her glasses into a crooked position, barely held on to her face by the bridge of her nose. He pulled back, watching as a dark bruise began to form on her right cheekbone. Ben grunted, gaining his bearings before watching Lisa's face contort into a pained expression.

"Okay, Brace-Face," Henry hissed as Lisa whimpered in pain, "this is why they call this the Kissing Bridge."

"It's for two things;" Henry held up two fingers before continuing, "sucking face."

Henry grinned before smashing his lips onto hers as the others began to make disgusting kissing noises. He pulled away from her stunned face before pulling out a switchblade and grinning even wider than before.

"And carving names."

"Henry!" Ben cried from Patrick and Belch's grasp as Henry pulled Lisa's shirt up to reveal her pale stomach. He could see her ribcage but hadn't pulled it far enough to see the floral bra she had chosen to wear that morning.

The cold metal tip of the switchblade pressed against her stomach before it sliced through several layers of skin with ease, allowing fresh, bright red blood to trickle down the moving blade and downwards to the rim of her previously clean denim shorts.

Lisa screamed in agony, her cries becoming mute as the pain burning throughout her chest choked back the screams bursting from her lungs.

Upon seeing this, Ben roared with anger, his face swelling to a tomato red as he watched his newfound friend be tormented in such a horrid way. With a surge of energy, he broke free from the bullies' grasp and charged into Henry, shouldering him just as he finished carving a bright red ' **H** ' into Lisa's stomach.

Henry was sent tumbling to the floor as Ben and Lisa ducked under the railing and down the hill that preceded it. As they scaled down the hill, Ben lost his footing and tripped before rolling down the remainder of the hill and into the surrounding forest. Lisa ran to catch up to him, helping him up as they heard the angry yells of the Bowers' gang chasing after them from up the steep hill Ben had just tumbled down.

With a rush of adrenaline, the pair bolted through the forest. It wasn't until they had come to the stream that Lisa knew eventually would lead to the Barrens, that she had finally collapsed, falling to her knees.

"Come on! We have to go or they'll catch up!" Ben urged her on, pulling her up as she began to think over how he could run so far despite his current physique.

Ben wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her arm around his neck in order to help support her weight as they trudged through the rushing water.

➵

"Aren't you guys coming in?" Richie asked to Stan and Eddie, who were both cautiously peering into the dark sewerage. Bill and Richie were already a few feet inwards into the tunnels that led into the sewers.

Eddie shook his head, pointing at the murky water that Richie was currently knee-deep in.

"Nuh-Uh. That's grey water."

"What the Hell is grey water?" Richie asked incredulously.

"It's basically piss and shit- so I'm just telling you! You guys are splashing around in millions of gallons of Derry pee." Eddie answered, cringing as Richie picked up a soaked stick and began to sniff one of the ends.

"What're you- are you serious? What are you-?"

"Doesn't smell like caca to me, Señor!" Richie proclaimed in a gruff Mexican accent.

"Okay, I can smell that from here." Eddie retorted, unable to believe that his friend could be standing in such filth.

"It's probably just your breath wafting back into your face." Richie digressed.

"Have you ever heard of a staph infection?" Eddie asked, his hand raised as he struggled to keep his temper from rising.

"Oh I'll show you a ' _staff_ ' infection..." Richie muttered as he picked up an old trash bag from the sewerage using the end of the stick he held.

"This is  _so_  unsanitary. This is literally- literally like swimming inside of a toilet bowl!"

Eddie shrieked as Richie flung the trash bag towards him, bouncing off of the fanny pack that was wrapped around his waist.

"That's disgu- argh! Are you retarded?! I mean, you're the reason we're in this position because you're-"

"GUYS!" Bill yelled, gaining the attention of his friends as he held up a soaked white shoe.

"Shit, don't tell me that's..." Stan questioned, his voice cracking at the thought that Georgie's missing body could possibly be down here in the sewers. Although Stan wanted nothing more than for his friend to have closure, he didn't want some minor clue to lead Bill on a wild goose chase after his undoubtedly dead brother.

"No, Guh-G-Georgie wore galoshes." Bill stated.

"Who's sneaker is it?" Eddie asked as Bill shone his flashlight onto the inner sides of the shoe, revealing a name written in black marker.

_**B.RIPSOM**_.

"It's Betty Ripsom's..." Richie said, looking over at Eddie and Stan, who were still standing at the edge of the water.

"Oh, shit..." Eddie breathed, "Oh God, oh fuck. I don't like this."

"How do you think Betty feels?" Richie seized the chance to jump at yet another one of his inappropriately timed jokes, "Wondering around these tunnels with only one frickin' shoe!"

Richie hopped up on one foot as the rest of them stared at him in bewilderment. His grin faded as he awkwardly stood back on two feet once he had seen Bill's pale stoic face.

"What if she's still here?" Stan spoke up, voicing his concerns. Bill turned, pointing his flashlight down towards the inner tunnels once again as Richie followed his lead.

"Eddie, come on!" Richie called, glancing at the pair.

"My mom will have an aneurysm, okay, if she finds out we're ' _playing_ ' down here. I'm serious!" Eddie seethed.

"Bill?" Eddie called to the light haired boy who was staring distantly into the filthy darkened tunnels.

Bill turned, an unsure frown etched across his face.

"If- If I was Betty Ripsom... I'd want us to find me. Guh-Ge-Georgie too..."

A short silence fell over the group as they thought over his words.

"What if I don't want to find them?" Eddie began, "I mean- no offense Bill, but I don't want to end up like Geor-"

Eddie paused for a moment, his inner guilt rising as he saw the pain in Bill's eyes.

"I don't want to go missing, either."

"He has a point..." Stan concurred with a slight shrug.

"Y-You too?" Bill sadly asked.

"It's Summer! We're supposed to be having fun!" Stan argued, "This isn't fun. This is scary and disgusting."

A loud splash sounded behind Eddie and Stan, causing them to turn around in alarm.

"Please, help! She's hurt!" Ben yelled, trying to keep the bleeding girl from falling unconscious as they stumbled through the water. They eventually fell to their knees as Ben attempted to keep Lisa's bobbing head above the water.

"Holy shit, what happened to you?" Richie called, curiously walking out of the tunnels with Bill following close behind.

"Lisa?" Bill asked incredulously as Stan and Eddie rushed over to assist the bruised pair before Bill and Richie hurried over as well.

"You know her?" Ben questioned, confused as to how they knew her name.

"She's our friend." Stan said, holding Lisa's arm as she swayed.

Lisa's face had grown pale, giving it an almost translucent quality. The usual bags under her eyes had grown darker with light veins visible on her upper cheeks. Her vision was blurred and her surroundings gradually grew whiter and somewhat bright as she attempted to keep her breath steady.

"I'm..." Lisa struggled to formulate a coherent sentence through the dizziness she felt.

"I'm fine.."

Lisa stumbled over her legs, falling into the water with a loud splash. She had fainted from the blood loss and physical overexertion. Her glasses fell from her face into the rushing water as she fell limp into the shocked boys' arms. Bill hurried to pocket her glasses as the current attempted to sweep them away before assisting the others in carrying her to the dry shore.

"Shit, what do we do?" Stan asked, looking around at the others.

"What the fuck happened?" Richie interrogated Ben, an accusatory look plastered across his face.

"We were attacked by the Bowers gang and he- he did this." Ben lifted Lisa's shirt up, only enough to allow the others to see the dark ' **H** ' that now branded her stomach. It was covered in grime and dirt- a mess of blood smeared by the water she had been lifted out of.

The resounding noise of multiple sharp intakes of breath collected throughout the group. Eddie immediately began to panic for the health and safety of his close friend while holding back the urge to puke at the sight of it.

"What if it gets infected? Oh my God, we need to clean it, or it'll get infected and she- she'll probably die! Do you even see how deep the cut is?! An infection like that would kill someone in less than a few days- maybe a- a few hours!"

"Eddie, shut the fuck up and calm down." Richie sighed, rolling his eyes at his friend's distress. Although he didn't show it, he was seriously concerned for his friend, but was unsure of what to do or how to react to this.

"We have to get her to a ho-hospital!" Bill stressed, wanting to get her help in any way possible.

"No way, our parents would find out and we'd all get into some serious shit!" Richie objected, shaking his head.

"No, Bowers would get in trouble. He did this, it's even in the shape of an 'H'!" Ben corrected, pointing at the disgusting mess that laid across Lisa's stomach

" _Hell_ - _o_? Are you actually fucking kidding me? This town turns a blind eye to Bowers no matter what he does. If we put her in a hospital,  _we're_  the ones taking the fall." Richie stated stubbornly. A blanket of silence fell over the group as they shared concerned glances.

"So what do we do?" Ben asked. Eddie thought for a moment before an idea bubbled to the surface of his mind.

"There's a pharmacy in town, we can get some supplies in there to clean the cut." Eddie announced, receiving a few nods of agreement.

"But how are we gonna get her there?" Stan asked.

Bill stood and briskly walked over to his large bike.

"She can ride wuh-with me. My bike can fit us b-buh-both." Bill said as he rolled the bike towards the group, who were all still kneeling over the unconscious girl.

"Isn't she gonna fall off?" Richie asked, his eyebrows furrowed together.

"Try sitting her on the seat," Ben offered before the group helped to lift her up and sit her on the seat just behind Bill. Her small figure slumped against him, with her head resting on the back of his shoulder. Bill felt his cheeks redden, a girl was technically leaning against him. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

' _It's just Lisa. Calm down._ ' Bill thought to himself, unsure of why he was so worked up in the first place.

Eddie pulled her arms around Bill's waist in an attempt to add a slight amount of stability. However this didn't exactly help Bill's current thought process.

"I'm not sure this is gonna be-" Eddie started as he looked at the two on Silver. But he was quickly cut off by the louder Richie.

"Eh, it's good enough. Let's go already!" Richie exclaimed and picked up his own bike off the ground as the others did the same- with Ben riding with Stan as they rode toward the direction of the town.


	5. Chapter Four

A soft groan fell from Lisa's lips, it was slightly distorted from the bump that Silver had just gone over.

"Hey, are y-y-you okay?" Bill asked, turning his head whilst keeping his eyes on the forested path ahead.

Her eyelids fluttered open weakly as another groan left her mouth. She sat upwards in sudden panic, but still leaned against Bill as they passed through the forest landscape.

"Uh- where are my glasses?" Lisa asked urgently in a groggy voice, her hands flying to her face as she attempted to find an invisible pair of glasses.

"I have them, duh-don't worry." Bill reassured her, allowing one hand to reach to his back pocket and pull the thickly framed glasses out. He handed them to her before quickly grabbing the handlebars again, steadying the bike's path.

"Thanks, Bill." Lisa said, breathing out a sigh of relief as she slid her glasses on, hooking the ends behind her ears.

"My stomach hurts like hell..." Lisa gripped her bloodied shirt, her fingers touching her wound through the fabric. Almost instantaneously she retracted her hand as it began to sting. "Ow, fuck." She cursed.

"Careful." Bill said, glancing back at her out of concern. Lisa laid her head against his back again, her head still spinning from just having woken up. Bill's back muscles tensed, his grip on the handlebars tightening as his palms began to sweat. He scolded himself mentally before attempting to calm his thoughts on why was he getting so worked up again.

"I think I bled on you, sorry." Lisa apologised guiltily, peering down at the red pool that had formed on the back of his dark green shirt where her waist had previously rested against.

"It's f-fuh-fine, I didn't like this shirt much an-anyway." Bill replied, offering a reassuring smile as he glanced back at her.

The pair had caught up with the others, as Bill had previously slowed down when he realised Lisa had woken up in an attempt to not frighten her with any frantic movements on the bike. They could hear Eddie's ranting grow louder as they moved in closer to the group.

"-She's bleeding all over and you guys know there's an AIDS epidemic happening right now as we speak, right? And my mom's friend in-in New York City got it just by touching a dirty pole in the subway and she got AIDS blood into her system through a hangnail- through  _hangnail_!"

The group rode into the streets of Derry's main shopping districts, crossing the roads as they approached the back alley adjacent to the pharmacist.

"A-and, and we can amputate legs and arms; but- but how do you amputate a waist? How do you amputate a  _waist_?!" Eddie continued as they pulled into the alleyway. "You guys do know that alleys are known for dirty needles full of AIDS, right? You guys do know that?"

Bill assisted Lisa in getting off the bike, who was still as pale as a ghost as the rest of the boys watched them carefully, worry lining their faces for the bleeding girl.

"Sit here, o-okay?" Bill said, helping her over to a bunch of toppled over crates resting against a wall with a mural painted over it depicting an event in 1935. The Bradley Gang incident.

"It's fine guys, seriously, I'm good." Lisa reassured them before wincing at the sudden stinging as she sat down.

"You're bleeding like you got your period early!" Richie exclaimed, pointing at the copious amounts of blood staining her shirt. She glared at him, internally debating on whether or not she should admit she got it earlier than most of her classmates.

"Uh, Richie, wait here." Bill instructed before looking at the rest of the group and muttering a quick, "C'mon."

Stan, Ben, Eddie and Bill rushed off toward the direction of the pharmacy, all whom ditched their bikes. Except Stan, who swiftly kicked out the kickstand, leaning his bike on it before hurrying to join the others.

"At least you could finally join us on our venture today." Richie said half-heartedly, kicking over a stray pebble on the concrete ground.

"Beep beep, Richie." Lisa sighed, staring at her hands that had been stained red. Richie looked over at her as she pulled up her shirt, revealing the ' **H** ' that had already begun to scab over. Richie's brow furrowed as he did his best to keep his mouth shut as to not throw an unnecessary comment when she was already in a lot of obvious pain. But he had to say something, the silence was quickly becoming too much for him.

"Are you... okay?" Richie asked wearily, the statement taking Lisa by surprise. She had scarcely ever heard him be this sentimental and genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, it just... It kinda hurts, I guess." She muttered with a shrug.

"What actually happened? And why was the new kid there?" Richie questioned, wanting to understand what had actually happened to his friend.

"New kid? That's Ben." Lisa said, "I met him in the library and we were gonna come meet up with you guys at the Barrens, but we ran into-"

"Bowers." The two gravely said at the same time. Lisa nodded sadly before continuing.

"He and his stupid friends jumped us. They beat the shit out of us and did this." She lifted her shirt again to look at the deep cuts Henry had inflicted. "They probably would've done more if Ben hadn't tackled Henry."

"Ben  _tackled_  Henry? I wouldn't have thought that fat-" Richie began before Lisa hit him on the one place she could currently reach from her spot on the crates, his leg.

"Ow, sorry." Richie apologised, rubbing the spot she had slapped.

"Ben saved me from getting any more letters carved into my skin. And... Bowers did more than just this." She pointed again at her bloodied shirt, earning a confused stare from Richie.

"Huh?"

"We were by the Kissing Bridge and..." Lisa started, gathering up her courage to admit what Henry had done.

"He kissed me."

"He did what?! Holy fucking shit Lisa, if you're kidding me right now I swear to God I'll-" Richie surprise was cut off before he could finish his sentence.

"It's not a fucking joke, dipshit. That asshole kissed me right on the lips and I hated every moment." Lisa grumbled, wiping her dry lips with the back of her hand as though she were attempting to rub off the memory of it.

"Sure you did, and I'm sure you're gonna go to bed tonight and lie awake thinking of his  _irrestistable_  mullet and his  _dreamy_ -" He was cut off yet again by an enraged Lisa.

"Shut the hell up, Richie! It's not fucking funny, okay?" Lisa fumed, crossing her arms as she glared at him.

Richie held his tongue for a moment, picking his words decisively before a thought popped into his head.

"Trying to save your first kiss for Denbrough?" He grinned slyly, eager to see her reaction. It was merely a hunch, but he suspected something was up between the two, given how often she chose to gravitate to him when the entire club was assembled together.

There was no doubt her reaction hadn't disappointed him, as Lisa had already turned three different shades of red. Each one a shade darker than the last.

"The heck are you talking about, Tozier...?" Lisa feigned ignorance despite the colour of her cheeks saying otherwise.

"Nothin'." Richie spoke smugly, an enormous smirk etched across his face as he eyed her shrinking figure.

Lisa pursed her lips together, avoiding his eyes as she would the plague. Her hands fidgeted, intertwining her fingers together as she continued to wait for Bill and the others to return.

Minutes of silence passed before Richie decided to speak up again. His mind had wandered elsewhere in this time, thinking over the information he had just been given by his friend.

"Bowers is an asshole." Richie mused with a frown.

"He is." Lisa sighed, staring blankly at the bricked wall in front of her.

"If I could, I'd beat the shit out of him." Richie continued, his pitch heightening as he grew angrier over the ordeal.

"I'm sure you would, Richie." Lisa dismissed, expecting his unusual behaviour to wind down. But it didn't.

"No, seriously. No living person should do  _that_  to someone." Richie gestured to her torso as he continued to speak, "It's not okay for even a prick like him to just-"

"Richie.." Lisa started, her words drowned out by Richie's everlasting rant. She called a second time, but to no avail.

" **Richie!** " She stood as she called his name for the third time. Richie's head snapped to her, his mouth open mid-sentence.

"I'm okay." Lisa said, resting her hand on his shoulder as the other continued to grip her shirt. She had only ever seen him this worked up when Stan had been tripped over by Belch down a flight of stairs in the school, causing him to break his leg. Stan was on crutches for weeks.

Despite his outward demeanour and constant pestering in the form of light teasing and badly improvised 'your mom' jokes, Richie truly cared for his friends deep down. To him, Lisa was a sister, and although they had their disputes, it were as though they were merely siblings having a quarrel. Never could either of the two hold a grudge against one another.

Richie frowned as Lisa noticed his skin had been tinged pink from his outburst.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, careful to not get any blood on him as her head rested on his shoulder.

"I'm okay." She repeated before pulling apart.

Richie meekly smiled at her as a grin spread across her face.

"Lisa! You should be sitting down!" Eddie's shrill voice echoed through the alley as the others returned from the pharmacy. In Eddie's hands were various assortments of bandages, ointments, wipes and bottles. They continued to run down the alley as Bill stayed back, claiming to keep a look out.

Lisa begrudgingly sat down again as Stan, Ben and Eddie approached.

"Is this gonna hurt?" Lisa questioned, lifting her shirt up enough to see the cuts as Eddie doused some antiseptic liquid onto a rag.

"Um... Maybe?" Eddie meekly said before beginning to wipe away the dried blood and grime with the rag. The sudden stinging caused Lisa to wince, inhaling sharply before Eddie continued wearily.

"Just suck the wound!" Richie spoke up, seemingly already back to his usual self now that the others were around.

"I need to focus right now." Eddie said, his tone blatantly irritated.

"You need to focus?" Richie questioned, amused.

"Yeah, can you go get me something?" Eddie said, beginning to apply different types of antibacterial wipes and creams.

"Fuck, ow!" Lisa hissed, however her discontent was mostly ignored.

"Jesus. Oh, what do you need?" Richie tantalized, itching for some kind of chance at throwing a light taunt at his closest friend.

"Go get my bifocals, I hid them in my second fanny pack." Eddie continued as he pulled out a bandage from a packet as well as a roll of adhesive tape.

"Why do you have two fanny packs?" Asked Stan, slightly amused at the prospect of Eddie owning two fanny packs.

"Well, I need to focus right now, and it's a long story." Eddie bit his lip, squinting as he carefully attempted to place the bandage over the wound.

"I don't want to hear it." Stan quickly dismissed before Eddie could go into yet another spout, this time on why his mother had bought him a secondary fanny pack.

Eddie missed his mark by a mile, the adhesive tape landing over one of the gashes and sticking to a forming scab.

"Shit." Was all Eddie said before he ripped it off to try for another attempt. Lisa cried out in pain, tears beginning to form unintentionally in her eyes from the unexpected pain.

"What the fuck, dude?! Give her some warning next time!" Richie fumed, stomping his foot as Ben joined his protest.

"Oh- oh God, she's bleeding! Oh my God." Stan stammered, noticing the stream of blood beginning to trickle down her waist once again. Meanwhile, all Eddie could sputter out was a series of "uhm"s, "ah"s and '"oh no"s as he attempted to wipe away the fresh flow of blood with his already-soaked antibacterial cloth.

"You have to suck the wound before you apply the bandage, this is 101!" Richie insisted as he adjusted his glasses.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Eddie dismissed as Lisa noticed Bill and another girl she recognised to be named Beverly Marsh walk up to the group.

Aside from being one of the few 'gingers' in the school grounds, Beverly was known for being labelled as a slut. Lisa had overheard this name many times when Greta was targeting Beverly instead of herself when Lisa happened to be eavesdropping.

"Are you okay? That looks like it hurts..." Beverly asked, genuine concern written across her face.

"I'm uh- fine. I just.. fell. Thanks for asking." Lisa answered quietly as she quickly covered the wound up with her shirt. Her discomfort tended to grow when around people she wasn't used to or didn't know all too well.

"Yeah, right into Henry Bowers." Richie's distaste for the psychopath was truly evident in the venom his words held when speaking of Bowers.

"Shut it, R-Reh-Richie." Bill cautioned.

"Why? It's the truth." Richie frowned as he looked down at an uncomfortable Lisa.

"You sure they got The... Right Stuff to fix you up?" Beverly asked, winking at Ben and causing him to blush madly whilst hiding his amused smile.

"Uh..." Lisa trailed off, obviously confused as her eyebrows creased together.

"You know uh, w-w-we-we'll take care of her." Bill spoke up, "Uh, thanks again, Beverly."

"Sure. Maybe I'll see you around." Beverly said, a glint of hope in her voice.

"Yeah, w-we were thinking about going to the q-qua-quarry tomorrow if... If you wanted to... Come...?" Bill grew quieter as he spoke.

Richie shared a glance between Eddie and Stan before looking over at Lisa to find her expression growing more shattered with every word.

To her, the idea was preposterous. Another girl in the club she was perfectly fine with. But the way Bill had stared so longingly into her blue eyes... It sent barbs of envy rocketing up and down her spine.

"Good to know. Thanks." She responded with a smile before walking out of the alleyway with only the remainder of the group left to watch after her as she rounded the corner and out of sight.

Eddie stood quickly, dusting off his hands before Stan began to speak again.

"Nice going bringing up Bowers in front of her." He scolded.

"Yeah dude, you heard what she did." Eddie concurred, peaking the interest of Ben.

"What'd she do?" He asked, unaware of many of the school rumours from the severely lacking amount of friends he has to talk to.

"More like who'd she do. From what I hear, the list is longer than my wang." Richie grinned, grabbing his crotch for a moment as the rest of the group outwardly cringed.

"That's not saying much..." Stan commented with an eyeroll.

"They're j-j-juh-just rumours." Bill defended.

"We all know how rumours start." Lisa grumbled, her was tone sour and laced with venom as she turned away from him.

"Anyway, Bill had her back in third grade." Richie continued, ignoring the tension that lingered, "They kissed in the school play, the reviews said you can't fake that sort of passion!"

Upon hearing this, Ben's face fell. Stan, however, nodded in approval and smirked at the stuttering boy, who averted his eyes upon noticing in embarassment.

"Now!" Richie exclaimed, his accent reminiscent of a poorly depicted stereotypical Englishman, "Pip, pip and tally-ho my good fellows! I do believe the lovely lady here requires our utmost attention! Get in there, Doctor K! Fix her up!"

Eddie sighed as Richie slapped him on the back.

"Why dont you shut the fuck up Einstein, because I know what I'm doing and I don't want you doing the British guy with me right now." Eddie seethed, kneeling down again to put the bandage on properly this time.

"Suck the wound! Get in there!" Richie continued, thickening the accent.

"Eddie, I can do this part on my o-" Lisa began before she was interrupted by Eddie.

"Done! As long as it doesn't get infected you should be fine." He informed, reaching into his fanny pack and pulling out some antibacterial wipes to clean his hands.

"You put so many cleaning liquids on it that I'd be surprised if I did." Lisa muttered before standing up and straightening her dirty clothes. Her eyes locked with Bill's for a moment before she quickly tore away from them, and instead decided to turn to face Richie, who had begun to speak.

"So now what do we do?"

"Oh, that reminds me!" Ben started before taking off his backpack and rustling through it.

"I was supposed to lend you these before we uh..." He pulled out several files tied together with a piece of string. On the top file, a label read ' **DERRY** ' in bright red.

"Oh right, yeah. Thanks Ben." Lisa smiled, taking the files from his outstretched hands and shoving them under her arm. It was then that a thought had occurred to her.

"Wait, fuck! Bowers took my bike when we were in the library..." She groaned, reaching under her glasses and rubbing her eyes in annoyance.

"Wasn't that the one you got for your birthday last year?" Eddie asked sympathetically.

"Yeah it was from my dad..." Lisa mumbled, a disappointed frown across her face.

"Wuh-we can help you look f-f-fuh-for it. I'm sure he wouldn't k-keep it." Bill offered.

"Seriously?" Lisa's eyes lit up, a wave of relief washed over her features as she spoke.

"Yeah, we've got nothing better to do and you kind of need it if you're coming tomorrow." Richie shrugged.

"Oh. Right. The quarry, how could I forget.." Lisa said, dismayed that her previous excitement to go to the quarry with her friends had been hijacked by what she considered to be 'competition'.

"Well it's settled. Let's hurry and go then." Stan clapped his hands together before the group rushed off in the direction of the library, wheeling their bikes with them.

 


End file.
